ALEXANDER KANCHIK
NEW WORKS
Champagne Reception

Furniture Polish

An old Detroit furniture warehouse
finds new life as a permanent performance
space for Walk 6- Squawk.

LINDA BACHRACK
Special to the Jewish News

y

ou've never really experienced
the murderous mayhem of
Macbeth until you free your
imagination ro absorb the
images, movement, visual and musical
elements that transform Shakespeare's
play into an original ensemble collage of
sights, sounds and surprises. The script
may be familiar, but Walk &
Squawk Performance Project
infuses the classic production
with its own brand of mysti-
cism and bloody reality

Something Wicked This Way
Comes ...Walk 6- Squawk's
Macbeth premieres Saturday,
Oct. 21, when Walk &
Squawk Performance Project
kicks off its new season in a
new performance space —
the Furniture Factory. The
project, under the artistic
direction of Erika Block and
Hilary Ramsden, renovated
the former Weber furniture
showroom and warehouse on Third
Street in Detroit to create a theater,
rehearsal studio, lobby cafe and adja-
cent parking lot.
Built in 1923, the brick building fea-
tures an unusual mix of art deco and
industrial features. The Furniture
Factory is an arts enterprise venture that
contributes to neighborhood revitaliza-
tion. It is designed for professionals in
all arts disciplines who want to create
and produce new work in Detroit.
"Much of the work we do is based on
the idea that live performance creates
community," says Block, who is Jewish.
"By providing an intimate home for
performances, artists and audiences, the
Furniture Factory is the physical exten-
sion of this belief And by providing
permanent roots for Walk & Squawk
(originally Ann Arbor-based), the
Furniture Factory will give us the
opportunity to be part of the vibrant
energy of this neighborhood."
Walk & Squawk's theater company is
about transformation — of people,
objects and ideas. It creates physical
and visual theater emphasizing imagi-
nation, collaborative development and

ensemble work. The result is fresh,
engaging and textured.
Now five years old, Walk & Squawk
has traveled around the world, includ-
ing a trip to South Africa, where Block
and Ramsden launched Inhlanzi

Ishelwe Amanzi — As Fish Out of
Water, a multilingual exploration of
culture, identity, race and tradition.
The production enjoyed a sold-out
run in southeast Michigan in 1998.
In addition to theater per-
formances, Walk & Squawk
presents physical theater and
movement workshops to per-
formers and non-performers
of all abilities. In November,
South African performers will
teach gum boot dancing and
traditional singing workshops
at the Furniture Factory; as
well as at schools throughout
metropolitan Detroit.
The Squawk Sessions, a
late-night music series in
November and December,
begins after Saturday-night
performances and features
jazz, hip hop and world music. They are
complimentary for ticket holders; others
pay $7. Included are performances by
DJ Carl the Invisible Man on Nov. 4,
The Mosaic Singers on Dec. 2 and
Black Bottom Collective on Dec. 9.
This season's play performance
schedule includes:
• Something Wicked This Way Comes ...
Walk 6 Squawk's Macbeth, Thursdays
through Sundays through Nov. 5.
• The Government Inspector, a comic
antidote to voter cynicism and big-
money politics, Thursdays through
Sundays, Nov. 22-Dec. 10.
• Holy Sh't! Stories from Heaven and
Hell, a social satire and parody, star-
ring guest artist Janice Perry, Friday
and Saturday, Dec. 15-16. 7

Danielle Peleg Gallery
k-rossvvinds Mall = 4301 Orchard Lk. Rd. West Bloomfield

Katichik

Tue-Sat. 10-6., Sun. 12-5 • 248-626-5810

Oil 48"x 32"

Show times for Something Wicked

This Way Comes ... Walk e-
Squawk's Macbeth are 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, 4 p.m. Saturdays and
Sundays through Nov. 5. $18-$24.
(313) 832-8890. For a workshop
schedule, call (313) 832-8890.

Michigan's Hottest Group

Mel Ball

and

Colours

/1 1 Best Band by
Cra i s Detroit
Business Magazine

Voted

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10/20
2000

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